Chapter One
My name is Dylan. Kind of a strange name for a girl, but I like it. It has an edge to it, and it suits me. There are three main things you need to know about me. 1: I don't care much about looks or popularity; the fact that society is based off of it disgusts me. 2: My mom left before I can remember, and my dad refuses to talk about her or move on, so I guess you could say that I have a broken family. 3: I have been to Neverland.
Now, I know what you're thinking; this one belongs in the loony bin. You might not be wrong about that; I've seen plenty of things that might make someone go insane. But here I am today, still living in the little old house in the cul-de-sac, still going to school acting like nothing happened. But something did happen. And every time I catch his eye in the hallway or class, he would just smile that cocky grin of his and let his eyes sparkle.
It all started in late November, the trees almost bare, and a bitter wind blowing through them. I was in English class when we were assigned partners for a reading project on Peter Pan. The teacher, Mr. Brook, a middle-aged man with graying brown hair and a protruding gut, as well as hatred for his job, called off names.
"Lila Simmons with Jayden Patrid," I heard groans from most of the guys in the class, as Lila is the most popular girl in the grade, and saw a wide grin on Jayden's freckly face. Lila seemed indifferent on the matter, not even bothering to look up from her nails, which, of course, were freshly painted a lime green; the nail polish bottle still out on top of her desk. I mentally cheered for him; Jayden is one of the nicer boys in the class, and he has been seriously crushing on Lila for months now; then again, what guy hasn't. I went back to reading my book, To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my favorites. I didn't look up until I heard my name being called.
"Dylan Kingston with Riley Peter," I sighed, closing my book. I saw a few guys patting Riley on the back, congratulating him of sorts. He had a goofy grin plastered on his face, and was high-fiving them right back. I managed to hear part of their conversation.
"-do all your work!" one of them said. I frowned; this was going to be a group project, not a 'Dylan-does-it-all-and-I-take-credit' project. I've been parts of way too many of those. Those imbeciles just kept on talking, not noticing me glaring at them, for better or worse.
"Plus she's like, smokin' hot! I hear that because she's a gymnast that her body is like, totally toned and shit." I saw Riley blush. Why would he be blushing? The guys around him kept talking, and he looked away. Unfortunately for me, he met my gaze. 'Sorry,' he mouthed, thumbing at his buddies. I studied him, cocking my head to the side. After a moment or two, I dropped my eyes back to my desk and started reading again.
"You will be doing a presentation on a scene from Peter Pan explaining what its importance is et cetera et cetera. Plus, you will act out that scene tomorrow!" Mr. Brook told us in his nasally voice. "You should put yourselves into the scene, change it, do whatever the hell you want really, but the man in the pair must play Peter's role and the female, Wendy's." A ton of hands shot up after this announcement and kids shouted out questions, not waiting to be called on, but Mr. Brook signaled for silence. "Okay you little brats, you put your names in where Wendy's or Peter's are and just read the freaking lines! I don't even give a damn. I hate this stinking job. You have the rest of the hour to practice. GO!" He rubbed his temples and sat in his desk chair, grumbling about having to be here and what not.
I sighed and was about to grab my things when I heard a voice in front of me.
"Hey, Dylan," Riley loomed over me, his light brown hair falling into his blue eyes, a gray backpack slung over his shoulder. He motioned to the seat next to me, which was now empty. "Mind if I sit down?" I nodded slightly. Riley set his bag on the floor and pulled out his copy of the book.
"Look," I said, turning to him. "I am not going to be doing all the work for this project." I crossed my arms over my chest and continued. "I mean, I'm usually stuck with a lame ass partner who isn't capable of contributing the slightest, and I'm sick and tired of all the bullshit excuses, plus I have a lot going on with gymnastics and-" I had to stop mid-sentence just to breath, and Riley took that opportunity to cut in.
"Whoa, Dylan, slow down, I never expected you to do all the work. After all, it is a partner project." He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. I just brushed him off and turned back towards my desk.
"Let's just start then, please." My voice came out shriller than normal, sounding hollow. Riley shrugged, turning to his desk as well.
"Sure, I guess. What scene do you want to do?" His eyes met mine, and before I knew it, I blurted out.
"The bedroom scene, when they first meet!" I blushed and looked back at my paper. "I mean, if that's okay with you." I added quietly.
"Yea, cool. Do you want to read through it once before we change it?" I nodded and opened my book.
Soon, the bell was ringing, signaling the end of the day, and Riley stood up, grabbing his things. He grinned down at me.
"Well, here's my number," Riley took out a sharpie and wrote it on my hand. I glared at him. He just smiled. "We can go over it tonight and practice again at lunch if you want, but I plan on being awesome even if we don't." I laughed at this and stood up with my books.
"Sure, I'm free anyway." I started to walk out the door when he grabbed my wrist, turning me around. My blond hair fell in my face.
"I know you heard what those guys were saying earlier, but I just want you to know that I'm different than them." He looked into my eyes, his face sincere. I smirked.
"Yeah, you'll have to prove that." I walked out of the room, leaving him gaping at me. Okay, maybe not gaping, but at least watching me go, before realizing he was the last one in the classroom and walking out.
I headed to my locker and dropped off all of my unneeded books and other supplies. I had finished most of my homework during free time anyways, like I usually do on days when I have practice. I quickly shut it and walked off. The bus would be leaving any minute, and I couldn't afford to be late to practice again. I found an empty seat on my bus, and pulled out calculus homework. I still had a few problems left. Within the next five minutes, I had them finished and my laptop out. I had a paper due in history the next day, and I wanted to edit it. By the time my stop came, I had that done, too, leaving only the English project with Riley. As I walked off the bus, I smiled at the bus driver.
"Thanks, Lou," I said to the balding, slightly overweight man. Lou grunted in response and shut the doors to the bus. I walked down the block. My dad's car wasn't in the driveway, like usual. I called out as I walked in.
"Kellie, I'm home!" I heard a muffled bark and scrambling as the husky came running towards me. "Who's a good girl?" I asked her and she wagged her tail, tongue hanging out. I scratched behind her ears and grabbed a ball from the bin by the door, tossing it to her, and then proceeded to take off my shoes. I walked into the kitchen and set my bag on a chair. I checked the time. 3:42 I had three minutes before my ride was to be there. "Oh, crap." I ran upstairs and quickly changed into a leotard. I grabbed my gym bag and phone and headed out the door. As I was locking up, I heard honking. I turned around to see Bailey and Jesse in Bailey's car waving frantically at me.
"Hurry up, Dyl!" Bailey called out the window as I scrambled to the car. "We cannot be late again! Couch Laurie will kill us!" I laughed as I got in the back and buckled my seatbelt, knowing full well that she was right.
"Step on it!" Jesse yelled at her. They were both so dramatic! Bailey had her short beach blond hair up it a low ponytail and a worn out pink and orange leo on. Jesse's brown hair was pulled into her usual ponytail bun and she wore a plain light blue leo. The radio was on the Kiss FM, and Jesse and Bailey were talking, but I didn't really listen. I checked my phone, and decided to add Riley's number in, since it would probably come off during practice. There still was ten minutes before practice started, and who knows how much longer this car ride could be, so I texted him.
Hey, it's Dyl. Just thought you should know, I have practice until 8, so you could come over like 8:20 if you want, or just call, whatever's fine. I got a reply almost immediately, and my ringtone blared. Jesse looked back from the passenger seat.
"Good thing we aren't at practice yet or Coach would tan your hide!" She and Bailey laughed while I quickly silenced my phone. I read Riley's reply.
That sounds great! I can be over 8:30ish, but I'll call before I come. What's your address? I typed out a message as we pulled into the gym parking lot.
264 West Highland Circle. It's the old style two story house right in the center. It looks out of place; you'll know when you see. I gtg, see ya. I turned off my phone and put it in my bag. Bailey pulled into a front spot, parking the car. We all got out and walked in together, ready for another long, hard practice.
Bailey had just dropped me off when my phone started ringing. It was Riley.
"Hello?" I said into the phone, walking into my house and dropping my gym bag by the front door.
"Hey, Dylan, it's Riley," came the reply.
"Wow, shocker, I can't believe that my phone was right when it said you were calling!" I sarcastically told him. I heard a laugh on the other line.
"So listen, I'm going to be there in like five minutes." I checked the time. 8:26. Right on schedule.
"Okay, cool," I started to head up the stairs to my room. "I have to go change out of my leo, and take a quick shower, but the door will be unlocked, just come right in, and lock it after you do." I could tell that he was a little surprised at all that, but hey, a girl's got to be clean!
"Sure," He didn't sound as shocked as the silence that came before led me to believe.
"My room is at the end of the hallway upstairs on the left. Just go in there and wait, okay? Well bye." I hung up the phone, not waiting for a reply and hurried into my room. I grabbed a pair of pink sweatpants and a gray and pink sweatshirt and a clean pair of socks before I headed to the bathroom connected to my room. I made sure to lock both doors, just in case, and started my shower. I guess I forgot about Riley, because I started to sing in the shower as I shaved my legs.
'Cause you are the piece of me I wish I didn't need
Chasing relentlessly, still fight and I don't know why
If our love is tragedy why are you my remedy?
If our love's insanity why are you my clarity?
I shut off the water and grabbed a towel and dried off all while continuing my singing.
Walk on through a red parade and refuse to make amends
It cuts deep through our ground and makes us forget all common sense
Don't speak as I try to leave 'cause we both know what we'll choose
If you pull then I'll push too deep and I'll fall right back to you
I finished putting my clothes on, and brushed through my wet hair, still humming Clarity by Zedd. My blue-gray eyes shown clearly as they always do right after a shower or swimming. I think it has something to do with the water. Finally, I was done, so I walked out the door, turning off the lights.
Riley, who was lying on my bed, looked up. He smirked. "My, well don't you just look lovely." I scowled at him. He had the same clothes on as he had at school; a light green shirt and jeans, but he was still wearing a black north face jacket. "So do you want to get started?" I walked over to my desk and pulled out my laptop, Peter Pan, and a notebook.
"Sure," I sat down in my desk chair, Riley still on my bed.
"We can start by practicing the scene, since that's for tomorrow." He suggested. I nodded in reply. "Plus, since your room has a balcony, we can use that for the scene too, just for fun of course." He grinned mischievously and walked outside. "You get in the bed and pretend to be asleep!" He called over his shoulder.
"Yes, Dad," I muttered under my breath, just loud enough for Riley to hear; he laughed, signaling that he had. "Okay, let's start!" I turned off the lights and climbed into bed, pretending to be asleep. I heard from under the covers Riley coming in and begin his lines.
"Tinker Bell," he called softly, "Tink, where are you?" I laughed quietly. He really did sound like he was looking for the little fairy. "Oh, do come out of that jug, and tell me, do you know where they put my shadow?" I smiled, remembering this part in the book. Then the strangest thing happened. A quiet tinkle of bells answered him, and I wondered. Did he bring those? Or… No, Peter Pan is just a story! I heard Riley rummaging around, and hoped to myself he wasn't going to break anything. Then everything went silent, and I heard him begin to fake sob, my cue. I sat up in my bed to see Riley hunched over 'crying' on the floor.
"Boy," I said, looking curiously at him, "why are you crying?" Riley rose and bowed to me, and I curtseyed in response.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Dylan Sage Moira Kingston," I replied, a little embarrassed. It had never occurred to me that one of my middle names was the same as Wendy's from Peter Pan. "What is your name?"
"Peter Pan," came the reply. I gave him a look of confusion.
"Riley, we're supposed to use our real names," I studied him and saw a cocky grin creep onto his face.
"I am." He said simply.